


27 Dresses

by boom_butterfly_effect



Series: A Very Chrashley Life [2]
Category: Until Dawn (Video Game)
Genre: Drama, F/M, One Shot, shitty mom alert, tragic backstory, wedding dress shopping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-18
Updated: 2020-06-18
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:00:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,486
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24792757
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/boom_butterfly_effect/pseuds/boom_butterfly_effect
Summary: Part 2 of Ashley and Chris' life together. Ashley is going wedding dress shopping along with Emily, Sam, Jess, and Josh (of course) along with her sister and future mother-in-law. Then her estranged mother shows up... what else could go wrong?
Relationships: Ashley Brown/Chris Hartley
Series: A Very Chrashley Life [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1792408
Comments: 2
Kudos: 10





	27 Dresses

Ashley, along with Emily and Natasha had spent the better part of 3 months meeting up and discussing wedding plans. Everything from what flowers would be in the bouquet, to how many people would be invited to what venue. 

They had come up with having a small venue so they could blame that on having only a handful of people there. Ashley had spent any free time she had scouring through David’s Bridal’s website and watching Say Yes To The Dress. So when it was time to go dress shopping, she was hyped up.

All of the girls came, along with Natasha and Diana, and of course, Josh to the small boutique that they wanted to start their search in. Nat had reached out to their mom, but didn’t get a response, as per usual. Ashley hadn’t seen her mom since right after her parents split. Her dad had gotten custody of Ash and Nat and moved them to LA while her mom stayed in Colorado. 

Ashley’s mom, Jennifer, had come to visit her and Nat about 6 months after they moved. She took them to a bowling alley/arcade, then went home and was never heard from again. According to the Facebook they found, she had gotten remarried and had 2 little boys, never mentioning she also had 2 daughters. 

As the gang walked into the store, a consultant rushed to greet them, “You must be Ashley, am I right?”

Ashley nodded and she continued, “I’m Linsdey and I’ll be helping you find the perfect dress for the big day! So tell me a little bit about your special someone.”

“His name is Chris. We were high school sweet-”

“Oh! Ms. Brown, you came!” Emily said as she turned to hear who had come through the front door.

“It’s Mrs. Reynolds now, but yes, I came.”

Ashley felt goosebumps on every inch of her body at the sound of her mother’s voice. She instinctively started to tear up. It had been 7 years since she heard that distinct accent that her mom had acquired from moving around a lot as a child. The tears were followed by a pit of rage in her stomach. She wanted so much to yell at her, but she was determined not to be _that bride_.

Ashley turned around, “Hi.”

“Ashbrown,” the former Mrs. Brown said, looking her daughter up and down, "You're all grown up."

The last time Jennifer had seen her, Ashley had barely hit puberty. Her face was a zitty mess. She had straight across bangs that she had done herself, and she had only mentioned Chris in passing as a friend she met at her new school.

Ashley swallowed hard. _Nobody_ called her that anymore because of the emotional scarring it had caused her, “Jen. You can call me Ashley or nothing at all.”

Jen looked like she had just been punched in the gut, “Sorry, _Ashley_.”

Sam couldn’t stand the tension in between them so she looked back at Lindsey who was waving them to an empty section of the store. 

“Fuck yeah!” Josh said, perhaps a bit too loud, taking Ashley’s hand in his, “Let’s go find you the perfect dress.”

The consultant led them to a trio of full length mirrors along with a couple couches and chairs across from it, “What kind of look are you going for? Just as a starting point for me to pull.”

“Actually,” Emily asked, “We were wondering if we could all go pick a dress that we think would suit Ashley.”

She looked shocked, “Oh, that’s totally fine! You can have a maximum of 7 dresses. Feel free to peruse the store and whenever everyone has picked their choices I’ll bring them in to you. Feel free to sit in the dressing room and I’ll be in there shortly.”

“Thanks.”

All 7 of the people Ashley brought along with her spread out into the store, searching for their idea of her perfect dress. Ashley went into the dressing room and sat while slowly, all 7 brought the consultant their choice in dresses.

There was a light knock at the dressing room door and Lindsey walked in with the first gown for her to try on. It was an a-line high-low cut with no train. It was strapless and had plenty of lace with a jeweled belt around the waist.

When Ashley came out of the room, everyone gasped. 

Sam smiled at her choice in dress, “What do you think?”

“It’s very pretty, Sam,” she said looking the dress up and down in the mirrors, “I like it a lot.”

Jessica piped in, “I can’t wait for you to see mine!”

Lindsey led Ashley back into the room and she put on the second dress. A sheath sequin dress that had long sleeves and was _overwhelmingly_ uncomfortable. She hated this dress, but she had no idea who gave her this, so she wanted to be polite. She came out of the room and it was silent.

“This one is,” she paused, seeing that her mom was tearing up at her in the dress, “interesting.”

“Oh honey you’re gonna be such a beautiful bride,” Jennifer said, dabbing the corners of her eyes with a tissue.

“I hate it,” Josh said. Emily nodded in agreement.

Sam agreed, “It’s not you.”

Jen looked offended, “Don’t you guys think I know my _own daughter_?”

That was it.

“Don’t you think your daughter is a different person after her mom abandoned her for _seven years_?!” Ashley asked vengefully.

Jen looked down at the ground, “You guys took off to _California_ without me. You can’t blame me for being hurt. It took me a long time to get used to not seeing my girls everyday, and then I met Joseph and we hit it off and things picked up and I guess I-”

“-Forgot about us?” Nat said, speaking for the first time since Jennifer got there.

“I-I didn’t forget about you guys. I just found it was easier to cope with not seeing you guys if I just didn’t think about it.”

“You could’ve come seen us,” Ashley said, crossing her arms.

Jen got defensive, “You _know_ I didn’t have the money for that. I didn’t even have the money to take care of you girls enough to keep you.”

“Just saying, a call or two would’ve been nice,” Nat rolled her eyes.

Ashley was done with this dress and her mom right about now, so she walked back to the room and Lindsey followed. The third dress was another a-line that was beaded on the top and had a tulle skirt that had a slit in the left leg up to her thigh. Ashley _really_ liked this dress.

She came strutting out of the room and when she got to the mirror, she started to cry at the sight of herself, “Guys, whoever picked this out, I love you.”

“You’re welcome,” Diana said, smiling ear to ear.

“Oh my God! Of course it was you,” Ashley ran and gave her a hug.

“Turn around,” Ashley did as she was told while Josh looked at the back of the dress, “Oh good, it’s a zipper. You _know_ Chris couldn’t handle complex buttons.”

“Who’s Chris?” Jen asked.

Ashley’s smile faded as she looked at her mother, “My fiance, mom.”

“I thought that guy was your fiance,” she pointed at Josh.

“The _fuck_?” Josh said, once again, too loud, “I’m her best friend.”

The consultant left and came back with a little bell. The type you would see in movies that people rang to get attention from their servants.

“At Whispering Willow, we ring this bell when we find our dress-”

Sam jokingly said, “Are you saying ‘yes to the dress’?”

Ashley giggled, looking around at the girls and Josh. Her mom looked disappointed that it wasn't her choice but she still looked proud. Ashley rang the bell, loudly.

“Hell yeah, I’m saying ‘yes to the dress’!” 

Everyone clapped before Ashley addressed everyone else, "Sorry I didn't get to try on everyone's dresses-"

"It's ok, Ash. That's _your_ dress!" Jessica said.

After getting redressed, Ashley set up the payment plan for it. Jennifer came up to her before she left.

“I hope you know I didn’t stop loving you.”

Ashley rolled her eyes, “What's done is done.”

“Will you at least let me come to your wedding? Or at least out to dinner so I can meet your fiance.”

Diana came up beside her and gave Ashley a side hug, “She could join us for dinner tomorrow night.”

Ashley gave Diana a pleading look, to which she whispered in her ear, “It’ll be fine, trust me.”

So with her dress ordered and plans for Chris to meet her mother, she left the bridal store and went home, annoyed that her “big day” could very easily become a nightmare with the presence of 1 person.

**Author's Note:**

> Stay tuned for the rest of this story :)


End file.
